Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/140546
•pg_3-13__BMT_pg3-58 6/22/13 1:34 AM Page 4 PUBLISHER'S MESSAGE were very pleased several months ago to learn about the appointment of Ernest Wooden as president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. Ernie has appeared on the pages of Black Meetings & Tourism on numerous occasions in the past when he served in senior leadership positions at Hilton Hotels Corporation. Wooden joins a very select group of African-American industry professionals who head convention bureaus across the nation. The other Blacks who hold this lofty position are: Larry Alexander (Detroit Metro CVB), Bennish Brown (Tacoma Regional CVB), Wanda Collier-Wilson (Jackson CVB), Elliott Ferguson (Destination DC), Monica Smith (Macon-Bibb County CVB), Tonya Ray-Smith (Yazoo County CVB), and Melvin Tennant (Meet Minneapolis). Now if you are wondering where the list continues, think again. This is the entire complement of African-American bureau presidents, CEOs and executive directors! Eight in all. And that includes Wooden. Only eight bureaus headed by African-Americans out of over 450 CVBs in the United States makes a powerful statement about the travel/tourism/hospitali- We ty/meeting industry's commitment (or lack thereof) to diversity and inclusion. Put bluntly, it's a shameful record that needs to be changed! The sooner the better! How can we collectively call ourselves hospitality professionals when we can't even be hospitable and welcoming to people of color within our own ranks? This sets the stage for the revisiting of a feature which Black Meetings & Tourism ran annually until several years ago – "Who Will Be The Next Black CVB President/CEO?" I can think of no better time to reprise this conversation given the paucity of top level African-American leadership at bureaus throughout the nation. And with such an impressive cadre of seasoned and experienced candidates, it's hard to fathom how anyone can still say they can't find qualified African-Americans to fill a position as a CVB president/CEO. Some years ago it was pointed out by the NAACP that the hotel industry did not have an exemplary record when it came to hiring and promoting African-Americans and other people of color to upper echelon positions in the executive suite or the board room. They were also criticized for their lack of diversity in several other key areas, including vendor opportunities for people of color, advertising in Black-owned media, charitable giving and ownership. When the first NAACP Report Card on the Lodging Industry came out, and many of the major brands received less than satisfactory grades, the race was on to establish diversity programs aimed at damage control. And for a few years, the effort worked. The lodging industry took some giant steps towards getting their house in order, and we were cautiously optimistic. Unfortunately, after some hard won advancements, the report card program faltered, and things slowly went back to business as usual. Today, for all practical purposes, the major hotel brands have no viable diversity initiatives in place. The lesson here is of course, that change seldom comes voluntarily, but typically occurs when sufficient economic pressure is applied. When hotel companies start losing money, policies can (and should) change quickly. The good news is that the NAACP reinstated the Lodging Industry Report Card in December of last year, so we are eagerly looking forward to see how it will impact this sector. Several of our colleagues in the industry have proposed that a similar report card be established to rate convention & visitors bureaus. Quite frankly, if such a report card program was undertaken, from my perspective more than a few (if not most) bureaus would receive poor if not failing grades. While I don't know if our colleagues will go forward with their proposed CVB Report Card program, I think such a rating system could only serve to help our industry live up to the high standards by which most of us would like to see it operate. What do you think? Solomon J. Herbert Publisher/Editor-In-Chief E-Mail: BMandTMag@aol.com Black Meetings & Tourism is published bi-monthly by SunGlo Enterprises, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207 •Telephone: (818)709-0646/Fax: (818) 709-4753 Copyright 2013 by SunGlo Enterprises. All rights reserved. Single Copies, $6.00 Subscriptions $45.00. Postage Paid at Pasadena, CA. •Postmaster send address changes to Black Meetings & Tourism, 20840 Chase St., Winnetka, CA 91306-1207. 4 B M & T ••• May/June 2013 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com